Bodycam video shows Roderick Brooks wouldn't stop walking away when confronted by Hardin, so he was tased and taken to the ground. Hardin got on top of him when he claimed Brooks grabbed at his deployed stun gun, shocking him. He then shot Brooks in the back of the neck once, killing him.
Hardin didn't render aid to Brooks after the shooting, and ultimately, Brooks's family and the Harris County District Attorney's Office brought murder charges against Hardin. In the end, Hardin was found not guilty. One of Hardin's lawyers told ABC13 on Thursday that Brooks was obviously dead, so CPR didn't matter.
ABC13 also discovered that just a week before the shooting, Hardin tased a man, causing him to fall 35 feet off a bridge and sustain serious injuries. That incident violated department policy as well.
During the court process, Hardin was fired from the sheriff's office. He appealed the decision but lost in February. Even though he appealed the firing, ABC13 found through employment records that Hardin was already employed at another agency.
"I was aware that (Precinct 4) Constable (Mark) Herman had reached out to now Deputy Hardin. I knew that he was aware of- I mean, this was a major news story; he was aware of the situation," Daniel Werlinger, one of Hardin's lawyers, said.
According to Hardin's lawyer, this is not a case of a wandering officer. He says Hardin was fired over political motives and was only doing his job.
"They've placed him in places that are high stress, high violence, so incidents are going to happen," Werlinger said.
Wandering officers are those who leave one department over misconduct only to be picked up by another.
Eyewitness News reached out to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office by phone and email to find out if they knew about Hardin's record before hiring and to learn about their decision-making process, but they are not responding.
A criminology professor spoke with ABC13 on Thursday and said that if Hardin was fired over the culmination of incidents, she would consider it as a case of a wandering officer.
"Yes, I would say that multiple instances of misconduct, and if he was written up for that, and he is terminated and goes to another agency, yes, that is a wandering officer," UH criminology professor Kimberly Dodson said.
Brooks' family wasn't able to meet with ABC13 in person on Thursday but spoke over the phone and sent the following statement:
"We, the family of Roderick Brooks, are deeply outraged and profoundly disappointed by the decision of the Precinct 4 Constable's Office to employ Garrett Hardin...this hiring decision is not only an insult to our family but also a blatant disregard for public safety and accountability in law enforcement."
Brooks' family is currently in a legal battle with Hardin; they've filed a civil suit over Brooks's death. ABC13 has requested Hardin's full employment records to learn more about his misconduct history.
For more news updates, follow Lileana Pearson on Facebook, X and Instagram.